The Angels' Mike Trout was assigned a contract of $510,000 for the 2013 season. / Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

Mike Trout has all the skills in the world, the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year trophy and a seemingly limitless future as a second-year superstar with the Los Angeles Angels.

But he has no leverage, and thus, he has an unhappy agent.

Trout's agent, Craig Landis, was peeved but powerless Saturday when Trout was assigned a salary of $510,000 for 2013, just $20,000 above the major league minimum.

For a player of Trout's accomplishments - he runner-up for the AL MVP - that represents a huge bargain for the Angels and a large pill to swallow for Trout and Landis.

But that's baseball's economic structure.

Players with less than three years of service have next to no leverage at all. Most of them end up playing for the major league minimum.

Some organizations bump up young players' salaries after significant accomplishments in their first year or two, but the Angels chose a small raise and got a large response from Trout's agent.

In an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times, Landis wrote, "In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a 'fair' contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process."

But Landis acknowledged there's not a whole lot a second-year player can do about it.

"The renewal of Mike's contract will put an end to this discussion," Landis wrote. "As when he learned he would not be the team's primary center fielder for the upcoming season, Mike will put the disappointment behind him and focus on helping the Angels reach their goal of winning the 2013 World Series."

Trout is expected to play the majority of time in left field in 2012, with speedster Peter Bourjos starting in center and free agent signee Josh Hamilton in right.